Friday, April 10, 2015

We spent February at the Academy with all those young, perky, eager cadets.

Mission

Report

Command - Demonstrate ways to overcome a crafting “no-win” scenario to your cadets by planning and swatching for a project.

Although I had carefully considered details for my Away Mission for this tour before the tour actually began, my other duties kept me from confirming its viability through proof-of-concept work with the raw materials until after the start of the tour. My first sample came out at the perfect specifications (25x36 st on US4), but I was not sure I liked the lack of density, so I made another sample to smaller specifications (on US3), and ended up calculating that the original sample was superior. But, the extra time was not wasted, as I now had evidence that I could move forward with additional certainty that my mission would ultimately be a success.
Swatches (tested for sleep-worthiness by my invasive quadrupeds and marked as approved):

Diplomatic - Show your cadets the importance of details by creating something involving detail work or embellishments

Without detailed facial expressions, this very undiplomatic penguin would look like an unexpressive round ball on top of a tube.And he certainly wouldn’t be able to express his indignation at being shoved aside by the giant, undiplomatic invasive quadruped:

Medical - One of the hardest lessons to accept is that you can’t save them all, and sometimes the only thing you can do is give comfort.
Your Mission: Teach your cadets how to cope with these situations by creating something comforting, either for yourself or for someone else. Bonus points for charitable submissions.

Many cultures on Old Earth long had a tradition of brightening the environment of the ill with the often colorful and pleasantly scented reproductive organs of certain plants. Plants of the genus Tulipa were especially prized for their elegant beauty. I have replicated some and put them on a bunting for wall decoration.

Tactical - Teach your cadets the value of thinking quickly by making something very speedy (something that takes a day or less).

Any Starfleet cadet who has taken the Anomalous Quantum Particles course final exam will already know that concentrating on details while under time pressure is particularly difficult. To practice mental focus while simultaneously watching the clock, I manualy fabricated this special neck gear, which also acts as a sensor to monitor heart rate and blood pressure in tense situations. Keeping track of many small components, manipulating them without the aid of nano-tools, and completing an important piece of equipment are all skills that may be needed during an emergency when the replicators are not available either because of mechanical failure or on an away team mission.

The Brig - Finish off UFOs.

This prisoner hit its rehabilitation target 3 weeks ago, but I had more important things to do than process the paperwork. (Like, take naps.)